|
Iraqi Kurds to rebuild Bakhma dam they had
looted in 1990s
4.7.2007
|
|
|
|
July 4, 2007
Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- Massoud
Barzani, president of the semi-independent Kurdistan
region in (northern Iraq), is considering building a
dam which the former regime of Saddam Hussein had
started constructing prior to the outbreak of the
1991 Gulf War over Kuwait.
The Bakhma dam on the Greater Zab, a tributary of
the Tigris River originating in Turkey, was under
construction by foreign firms when the war broke
out.
Construction was progressing on schedule and the
massive dam was to be completed in 1992.
But when the Kurdish militias known as Peshmerga
under the command of Barzani and Jalal Talabani, the
current Iraqi president, controlled northern Iraq,
Iraqi engineers in charge fled leaving behind
equipment and other assets worth hundreds of
millions of dollars. According to Hawlati weekly the
looted equipments worth 175 Million US$. |
Bakhma dam. Photo
Hawlati |
The Kurds, with Barzani and Talabani’s blessings,
dismantled the dam and shipped the equipment,
construction materials and anything that could be
moved to Iran.
The smuggling was part of an organized campaign
which saw the removal and dispatch to Iran of
infrastructure equipment which included even power
pylons.
The Kurds were then against building the dam, saying
its construction was part of a move to isolate their
areas.
The Kurds would now like to rebuild the dam, but
they will have to start from scratch.
Barzani had a meeting early this week with the
central government minister of water resources,
Abdullatif Rasheed and his regional counterpart,
Tahseen Qader on plans to construct the dam.
The meeting comes after the central government in
Baghdad agreed, following marathon and protracted
talks with the regional Kurdish government, to
allocate 17 per cent of the country’s oil revenues
for the region.
At the current prices and average level of Iraqi
daily exports of about 1.9 million barrels a day,
the Kurds will get nearly $4 billion every year.
azzaman com | Hawlati com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 